Ohio State quarterback Braxton Miller is feeling OK and is planning to practice this week and start at Penn State on Saturday, Buckeyes coach Urban Meyer said Monday during his news conference. Marvin Fong, The Plain Dealer

COLUMBUS, Ohio -- Urban Meyer had to explain away the concern. How could starting quarterback Braxton Miller could be in such pain Saturday, helped to the bench, carted off the field and transported by ambulance to the hospital and, in the end, turn out fine?

Meyer said it was a neck problem, a whiplash-type injury after the sophomore was pulled down from behind on a tackle, one that left Miller's neck sore on Monday but will allow him to practice when the Buckeyes get back on the field today to prepare for Penn State.

It looked bad. It turned out OK -- kind of like Ohio State's entire 29-22 overtime win against Purdue.

"I had a long talk with him about it. He's just rattled," Meyer said. "And once he settled down, he seemed to be fine. And he made a comment to me he's never really been hurt. [He's had] a bruise or a contusion or a sprained ankle, but never been like that, and it kind of rattled him a little bit, like it would rattle most athletes."

So Miller continues to learn as the undefeated No. 9 Buckeyes continue to learn. Getting battered and coming back is another lesson, for the quarterback and the team.

"I think there are guys like John Simon who have been hurt their whole career and understand it's part of it," offensive coordinator Tom Herman said. "Braxton Miller is a very fine-tuned athlete, and those guys don't like it when they get hurt. And it takes a little adjustment. And he's 19 years old. I think we all forget, and let me make this really clear, he's 19 years old. He's a 19-year-old young man who just happens to be the starting quarterback at Ohio State University."

The Buckeyes (8-0, 4-0 Big Ten) are a team that just happens to be one of the 11 remaining undefeated teams in college football despite absorbing their own shots. Quarterback and team will continue to grow, but with four games left in the season, they won't drastically change.

The game plan to keep Miller on the move as a runner can't and won't be altered much, even though Meyer said he is "very concerned" about keeping Miller healthy.

"He's our best player," Meyer said. "I think we are trying to balance it. But at some point you've got to try to move the ball a little bit, too."

"If we've got to win the game, we've got to win the game," Herman said. "And if he's the best option to do that, then [the injury risk] won't factor into any of our decisions."

The good and bad for the entire hard-to-figure inconsistent team won't change either. The offense has been good. The defense has been good. But rarely at the same time.

Against Indiana two games ago, the defense fell down on the job but the offense allowed the Buckeyes to hang on for a 52-49 win. Against Purdue, the offense was stifled but the defense, after giving up an 83-yard touchdown on the first play, allowed the Buckeyes to hang around and stage the comeback.

Whether the Buckeyes make big plays or give up big plays on special teams is a coin flip from week to week.

So there was time to celebrate this win, with Meyer putting on the 47 seconds of the final tying drive at the team victory meal on Sunday night so he, and the entire team, could watch it with the man who led it, backup quarterback Kenny Guiton.

"I wanted him to see that," Meyer said. "I wanted to sit with him and watch the television version of the drive."

Meyer kept shouting "Kenny G" every time Guiton made another play on the screen.

"It had me dying laughing," cornerback Travis Howard said. "It was unique to see how happy he was for him."

"The world seems to love him right now," safety Christian Bryant said of Guiton, "as we do, too."

But there was another 59:13 of action before that final drive that wasn't as good. Losing the turnover battle, 4-1. Giving up a 100-yard kickoff return for a touchdown. Seeing a rushing attack that had been averaging 264 yards held to 152.

Meyer said he flipped the switch to concern for his whole team immediately after the win.

"Coaches are cheering and having a great time, and then deep in your heart, you know that we have a lot of work to do," Meyer said.

Before the team could watch and laugh and enjoy the Guiton drive, the players were reminded of that Sunday.

"As a player I feel like we want to stay on that high level of just excitement, but on Sunday we get brought right back down to reality," Bryant said. "Going in and meeting with our coaches, they critique us so hard. As soon as we go in those meetings, we get put right back down."

Herman certainly did that Sunday with his offense.

"You walk in yesterday and you say, boys, congratulations, helluva job, you guys found a way to win. But you didn't play good. You just didn't, and I'm not going to sugarcoat it," Herman said. "I didn't coach good enough, our coaches didn't coach good enough, you didn't play good enough. You call out a few in front of their peers and say you played really bad. You played really bad.

"Now, the whole world knows the what. The what is we didn't play good. Our job as coaches is not to figure out the what. The what is the easy part. It's the why. So let's figure out the why."

By Saturday in State College, for the team and the quarterback, the question will be how you get back out there and try to win another one.

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